


stepmother

by AlmondRose



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Cupcakes, Domestic, F/M, M/M, POV Outsider, Post-Star Trek Beyond, Queerplatonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:34:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26877511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlmondRose/pseuds/AlmondRose
Summary: sarek and his new wife visit spock's house on earth.
Relationships: James T. Kirk & Leonard "Bones" McCoy, James T. Kirk & Leonard "Bones" McCoy & Spock, James T. Kirk/Spock, Leonard "Bones" McCoy & Spock, Sarek/Original Vulcan Character(s)
Comments: 23
Kudos: 197





	stepmother

**Author's Note:**

> in my head they finished the 5 year mission that was ongoing in beyond and then after some time (a year, a few months, something) they are gonna go on another one. this takes place between those missions
> 
> i WANTED to name this fic whatever vulcan for stepmother is but i only found "mother" and "step" (as in stair) so i just went with english >:(

T’Sin had never been to Earth before, despite the fact that she is married to a Vulcan ambassador who spends much of his time traveling. They’d married three point four years ago, when the arrival of his Time left delaying remarrying illogical. T’Sin herself had also delayed remarriage, and in the end it had worked out conveniently for all parties involved. 

But she has never been to Earth. Now, however, Sarek’s duties coincide with the arrival of the _Enterprise_ to Earth, and so he asked if she would come to meet his son, and to see what Earth is like, among other things.

T’Sin conceded that she should meet Spock, as Sarek had met her own daughters already, and she also would admit curiosity to see the homeland of Sarek’s former wife. 

And so they went, and T’Sin finds San Francisco to be cold and gloomy. She does not particularly like it, but she keeps her opinions to herself. There are many humans on New Vulcan, but there are even more walking and running and being noisy and emotional in San Francisco. 

“Are humans always like this?” she asks Sarek. 

“Yes,” he says. “But New York is worse.” T’Sin has no idea what New York is but she takes his word for it. “The house is over here.”

Sarek turns a corner and T’Sin follows. She wonders why all the houses are touching, why they share walls. Do humans like this closeness? Are there just so many humans that their houses must touch?

She is fairly sure that Sarek has never been to his son’s house in San Francisco, since earlier he called it a “new” house, but he leads the way confidently regardless. The house he assigns to belong to Spock does not look any different from the other houses on this row. There is nothing outside to mark it as belonging to a Vulcan, or a Starfleet officer. 

There are three steps to get to the front door, and Sarek goes up them and presses the chime. T’Sin goes up two of the steps and waits behind him, knowing Sarek must be right and also illogically wondering if they have the wrong house. 

The door opens and T’Sin’s belief is reinforced. A girl is standing there, her brown hair pulled back from her face, dressed in the blue pants T’Sin has observed many humans like to wear and some sort of shirt that is far too large for her. T’Sin is not knowledgeable in how humans age, but if she had to guess she’d say the girl is fully grown but not yet fully mature. Her shirt says “Starfleet Academy” on it, so T’Sin assumes she attends the institution. 

Clearly, they have the wrong house. 

“Oh, Ambassador!” the girl says, her hands fumbling in a ta’al. “Sorry, they got called for an emergency meeting and had to leave. Spock hoped they’d be done before you got here but I guess not. Come in!”

The girl moves aside and Sarek does so. T’Sin follows, looking around the entry space. There are many shoes in a pile by the door and hooks that hold various bags. The girl leads them around a corner and down a hall to a bedroom. 

“This is where you’ll be staying,” she says. “The bathroom is over there. Just put your bags down and I’ll show you around the place. Hopefully everyone will be back soon.”

The girl retreats and Sarek enters the guest room. T’Sin follows, looking around. It is clean and mostly empty of decor, although there is a meditation space set up across from the bed and there are a few Vulcanic statues on a shelf over the bed. 

“Does this suit you, wife?” Sarek asks. 

“It is acceptable,” T’Sin decides. “Do you know that girl? I was under the impression your son lived alone.”

“I was as well,” Sarek says. “Come, let us see the rest of the house, and Spock’s teenage companion.”

They leave and Sarek, who is more familiar with human dwellings, leads the way to the kitchen, where the girl is eating what appears to be dried fruits and messaging someone on a communicator. Sarek clears his throat slightly. 

“I am so sorry,” the girl says upon seeing them. “I forgot to introduce myself--I'm Joanna. Do you guys want some water?”

“That would be acceptable,” Sarek says, and she nods and hops down from the counter where she is perched, retrieving two cups from a cupboard and getting water from the fridge. She also puts ice in it. 

T’Sin holds her cup and eyeballs Joanna. The name helped nothing, and when she prods at the bond in their mind Sarek reveals no answers. Joanna leads them into what she calls the family room, which has what T’Sin recognizes as a lirpa hanging over the television, with shelves of paper-bound books on either side. There are two couches and a chair, and besides books on the shelves there is an obscene amount of awards and medals, surely too much for one person to have acquired. T’Sin kind of wants to look at them, or perhaps at the art on the walls--she herself is an artist--but Joanna keeps walking them through the house.

There is not much else on the ground floor besides a laundry room and a dining room, and Joanna is halfway up the stairs when the chime of the door sliding open sounds. 

The girl visibly deflates, and T’Sin realizes how tense she was. She turns on the stairway. 

“Great! They’re back!” she says, gesturing for the Vulcans to turn around. She raises her voice. “Spock! They’re here!”

“Just a second, JoJo!” an unfamiliar male voice calls back. T’Sin and Sarek exchange looks and descend the stairs. Joanna follows suit, moving between them to slide on her socks towards the entryway. T’Sin hears furious whispering from Joanna but she chooses not to tune in, and instead watches as Spock comes around the corner and raises a ta’al. 

“Sa-mekh,” he says. 

“Spock,” Sarek returns, then lifts his fingers. “My bondmate, T’Sin.” She meets his touch and raises a ta’al with her other hand. 

“Thank you for inviting us to stay in your home,” she says. 

“You are welcome,” Spock says, and then he half-turns as two men approach from the entry, flanking him. Joanna appears behind one of them, nervously peeking over his shoulder. 

All three of the men are dressed in Starfleet uniform. T’Sin does not know much about ranks but she manages to discern that one man outranks Spock and Spock outranks the other. The one Spock outranks has brown hair and resembles Joanna in facial structure. The one who outranks Spock has golden hair and a yellow shirt--Spock and the first man wear blue--and stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Spock. 

“Captain, Doctor,” Sarek says, nodding at both men in turn. “This is my bondmate, T’Sin.”

“Hey,” the Captain says, raising a flawless ta’al. “I’m Jim and that’s Leonard, Joanna’s dad.”

“Pleasure to meet you, ma’am,” Leonard says. T’Sin assumes Jim is James T. Kirk, legendary captain of the _Enterprise,_ and Leonard must be a doctor on the ship, perhaps even the head healer. 

“Yes,” T’Sin says, and then Spock guides everyone to the family room to sit down. Leonard takes the armchair and Jim and Spock sit on the bigger couch with Joanna, gesturing for Sarek and T’Sin to sit on the smaller one. They do, and T’Sin watches with amazement as Joanna tucks her legs under her and the other humans recline on their seat. How strange.

T’Sin looks around and wonders what the purpose of sitting together is. Are they going to engage in the little talk of humans?

“How was the meeting?” Joanna asks eventually and some sort of tension seems to deflate. 

“It was fine, just bureaucratic stuff and they wanted all the senior officers there,” Jim says, waving a hand dismissively. 

“Did you adequately study for your exam?” Spock asks and Joanna shrugs. 

“I think I know it as well as I’m gonna,” she says.

“What is your exam in?” T’Sin asks, finding herself genuinely curious. Everyone looks at her and Joanna answers slowly, “Intro to Xenobiology.”

“What are you studying?” Sarek asks. T’Sin watches Jim and Leonard exchange an incredulous glance. 

“Medical track,” Joanna says. “Like my dad.”

“An admirable course of study,” T’Sin says. “My daughter considered pursuing healing, but ultimately decided to join the Vulcan Science Academy.” Vulcans do not think on what could have been, but often T’Sin wonders what would’ve happened if T'Po had indeed become a healer. Would she have been on Vulcan when it imploded, rather than serving as a liaison to Starbase IX? Would T’Sin not be so lucky as to have both her daughters alive and well?

They engage in more little talk, and T’Sin learns that Joanna is a second year at the Academy. She resides at this house while the _Enterprise_ is away. T’Sin also learns that Jim Kirk calls Leonard “Bones” and that they were roommates when they attended the Academy. She learns that for dinner Leonard is planning on making a "lasagna". 

She does not learn why Spock lives with his commanding officer, why the doctor and his daughter live here. She would guess, perhaps, that Leonard is Spock’s bondmate, but as the day continues T’Sin finds that Leonard and Spock enjoy antagonizing each other, which does not seem conducive to a healthy marriage. 

Sarek has no further answers for her. 

“Occasionally humans simply like to live together,” he offers, while they take some time to unpack. Jim went to retrieve more cheese at the store and Joanna left to take her exam. T’Sin can hear Spock and Leonard bickering from somewhere within the house. 

“Vulcans desire privacy,” she says. “These humans are all so emotional. Why would Spock allow Leonard’s daughter to remain in his house while he is gone?”

“Perhaps this is Leonard’s house,” Sarek says, and then he closes his eyes and exhales. “Amanda would know how to ask.”

“You were bonded to her for many years,” T’Sin says. 

“Thirty-seven point seven,” Sarek says. 

“Yes,” T’Sin says. “Can you not imagine what she would say and then say it?”

“Humans are unpredictable,” Sarek says. “It is difficult to discern what they would do in an unfamiliar situation.”

“That is frustrating,” T’Sin says. Sarek exhales again and T’Sin remembers what she knows of Sarek’s household when Spock was a boy. Two humans, a half-human, a Vulcan who believed in showing emotions. 

“You have no idea,” Sarek says.

Sarek has to take a call from the Embassy so T’Sin removes herself. She hears the front door chime open and moves towards it, assuming she will help carry the groceries, but an unfamiliar voice calls out, “I have cupcakes!”

T’Sin backs up and watches a woman enter the house. She sees T’Sin and does a double take. 

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she says. “I forgot you’d be here. Dif-tor heh smusma.” The woman holds up a ta’al. 

“Sochya eh dif,” T’Sin replies automatically, still startled at this woman, who nods and keeps walking into the house, carrying her box--presumably of cupcakes--in one hand. 

T’Sin follows behind her. 

“What’s all this about cupcakes?” Leonard asks, and the woman places the box on the counter. 

“I thought Jo might appreciate some after her exam,” she says. “I made some for Sulus and Pav, too.”

“Nyota, you’re a saint,” Leonard says, prying open the box to peek at the cupcakes, which seem to be some sort of desert. Nyota smacks Leonard’s hand away from them. 

“Cupcakes?” Spock asks, coming into the room. He gives Nyota a one-armed hug, which is the most human gesture T’Sin has seen him do. He goes to pry open the box like Leonard did, but Leonard mimics Nyota’s gesture, batting his hand away from them. T'Sin notices Leonard does not actually touch Spock's hand with his own. 

“Those are chocolate, Mister Spock, and as your CMO I must recommend we _wait_ to eat those.”

“There’s some vanilla,” Nyota says, winking, and then she says, “Well, I’d better be on my way.”

She gives T’Sin another salute and then takes her leave.

“She had a vokaya necklace,” T’Sin notes. 

“A symbol of my respect,” Spock says. 

“Nyota’s the communication officer on the ship,” Leonard says. “Damn fine one, too.”

“Does she usually enter your home unannounced?” T’Sin asks. 

“We’re all so used to living in each others’ pockets that it’s kind of hard when we’re on shore leave,” Leonard says. T’Sin translates that to mean _yes._ “‘Sides, she just lives next door.”

“You are neighbors?” 

“Nyota and our chief engineer, Mister Scott, live next door,” Spock says. “The Sulus reside in the next neighborhood, and Chekov is in apartment buildings you passed on your way here.” 

T’Sin does not know who the Sulus or Chekov are, but she gathers this to mean that all of Spock’s human friends live nearby. 

When Jim comes back from the grocery store, he, too, tries to peek at the cupcakes, but Leonard stops him. Spock walks up to him and touches his hand in greeting--not the formal gesture of the bondmate, or the pressing of fingertips between family members, just a simple brush of their hands, but T’Sin still notes the gesture. 

She retreats to the family room to study the awards on the shelves; it seems that there is nearly an equal amount awarded to both Jim and Spock, and less for Leonard, but one of Leonard’s has “ _Brought a man back to life”_ engraved on the bottom, and the other awards all seem equally medically improbable. 

There are a few photographs on the shelves; one of Nyota and Spock, one of Leonard and what must be a younger Joanna, one with all three of the men, one with Spock, Leonard, Jim, Nyota, and several other people, all dressed in colorful Starfleet uniforms. The last photograph T’Sin comes across is of Amanda Grayson holding a young boy to her chest, teeth bared in a human grin, a young girl and teenage Vulcan on either side of her. T’Sin has never seen pictures of Spock as a child, nor Sarek’s other children, but this must be them. 

“You have kids, right?” a voice asks, and T’Sin turns to see that Jim is leaning against the wall beside her, his arms crossed over his chest. 

“Yes,” she says. “I have two daughters. They are twins. T’La is a musician and T’Po is a scientist. They both survived the Great Loss, and I am lucky.”

“That sounds pretty lucky,” Jim says. T’Sin nods and reaches up to the pendant around her neck. She opens it and shows him the pictures on either half. One of T’La, one of T’Po. 

“After he-who-was-my-husband died, I have learned to...savor, the time with my daughters,” she says. Jim smiles at her. 

“When my dad died, my mom tried really hard to savor time with my brother and I, too,” he says. “Although I don’t think she kept our picture around her neck.”

“It is illogical,” T’Sin says, looking down at the necklace. “I know what they look like. But Sarek got me this necklace for our bonding ceremony, so I find it a reminder of his affection, as well.”

“Didn’t take Sarek for a sentimental kind of guy,” Jim says. 

“He, too, wears a pendant around his neck,” she says. “For Amanda. I believe this necklace was intended to hold a picture of he-who-was-my-husband.”

Jim grins at her, and T’Sin is not sure what, in her statement, has caused him such joy, but she is glad to be getting along with Spock’s--family. Yes, these people must be Spock’s family, T’Sin thinks as Jim smiles at her, and later at dinner, as the humans eat vegetarian lasagna without complaining, as Spock enquires after Joanna’s exam, as Spock’s lips curl into an almost-smile when Jim makes a joke. After dinner, Leonard distributes the cupcakes. The humans all pick chocolate and Spock and Sarek pick vanilla, but T’Sin decides to indulge and has half of a chocolate cupcake. She has never had a cupcake before, but she likes it. 

After, Jim and Leonard do the dishes, comfortably working with each other and in each other’s space. T’Sin wonders if it is them who are together. 

Joanna leaves to go next door to thank Nyota for the cupcakes. She comes back briefly, in the company of a little girl with black hair, who waves at everyone shyly as Joanna changes her shoes, and then they leave together. 

“Demora Sulu,” Leonard explains. “My guess is Ben and Hikaru were on a date and needed Nyota to watch her, and Jo volunteered to walk her back home.”

This answers some questions and raises others. After dinner, a kind of quiet settles around the house, Jim and Spock settling with a book and a PADD respectively on the couch. Leonard looks at them and snorts. 

“Usually they’re all over each other,” he tells T’Sin in a quiet voice. “But I’m guessing they don’t wanna upset Sarek, or something.”

“Vulcans do not get upset,” T’Sin says. Leonard snorts again and excuses himself. 

After a quiet few hours, they excuse themselves to bed. Sarek settles to meditate and T’Sin gets into bed. Sometimes they meditate together, but not often. T’Sin’s mind whirls but she puts her thoughts in boxes, a simpler form of mediation to allow herself to sleep, and she drifts. 

She awakes at approximately 0400 hours and finds Sarek in the bed with her, asleep. She gets out of the bed and decides to acquire some water before she meditates, so she puts on her slippers and moves quietly out to the kitchen. As the other bedrooms are upstairs, she assumes she will be alone, but she is proven wrong by the soft murmur of voices coming from the kitchen. 

She slows, curious as to who is awake at this hour besides herself. Leaning against the kitchen counter, holding a mug of what smells like tea, is Leonard, and across the kitchen on one of the stools is Spock, also holding a mug of tea. She does not think they are aware of her presence, but they have stopped talking regardless. Leonard sips his tea. There is an orange feline on the counter next to Spock. 

“You gonna go back to bed?” he asks. 

“No,” Spock says. “Vulcans--”

“--require less sleep than humans, I know,” Leonard says. “Who’s the doctor here?”

“Jim has awakened,” Spock says, glancing at the ceiling. “A nightmare. I regret that--when I am not with him, I cannot soothe his mind.”

“Do you wanna go up there? I can clear the dishes,” Leonard offers. 

“You go,” Spock says. “I must talk to T’Sin.”

“At four AM?” Leonard says, and Spock raises his eyebrow. Leonard huffs out a laugh, puts his mug next to the sink, and turns to go up the stairs. T’Sin steps out into the kitchen. 

“I did not mean to intrude,” she says. 

“You did not,” Spock says. “Did something disturb you?”

“I was getting water,” T’Sin says, and she goes to the cupboard where she knows the cups are. 

“Is the meditation area adequate?” Spock asks. 

“I have yet to use it, although I will be meditating for the remainder of the night,” T’Sin says. “I am sure if Sarek had a complaint he will inform you.”

“Of course,” Spock says. T’Sin fills up her water cup. When she turns, she finds Spock staring at her. “You are troubled.”

“I do not understand your relationships with your captain and doctor,” T’Sin says. Spock takes a sip of his tea.

“Jim says we are partners,” Spock says. 

“You and the captain?”

“All three of us,” Spock clarifies.

“You are--polyamorous?”

“No,” Spock says. “Leonard is my friend. Jim is my t’hy’la.” 

“I see,” T’Sin says, although she is not sure she does. Technically, both statements mean the same thing. “And the captain and doctor?”

“Friends,” Spock says. He settles a hand on the feline beside him. It makes a noise and he begins to pat it. 

“Has that always been in this house?” she asks. 

“She was hiding upstairs today,” Spock says, stroking it. “She belongs to Joanna, although I believe she enjoys my company when we are home.”

T’Sin recalls that Spock is currently between five-year missions. The feline begins to purr, and the corners of Spock’s lips turn up. 

T’Sin met Sarek during the New Vulcan relocation process, but she saw him one time before, on Vulcan-that-Was, many years ago. What she remembers is seeing Sarek, and Amanda, and their son trailing after them. Spock had been young and not fully practiced in the Vulcan controls, and he had been practically radiating misery. As T’Sin looks at him now, she can barely reconcile the image of the younger-Spock with this one. 

“May I ask an illogical question?”

“If you must,” Spock says. 

“Are you happy?”

Spock blinks at her, possibly startled. T’Sin knows she only met him for the first time yesterday, that he and Sarek are attempting to get along better after years of strain. She also knows that Sarek and Spock _loved_ Amanda Grayson, and Spock could possibly resent her for attempting to “replace” his mother. 

But she also learned that life can be fleeting, with the destruction of Vulcan. Her husband died, her parents died, her brothers died. Like it or not, Spock and T’Sin are family now and therefore T’Sin wants him to be content or--since he is part-human--happy.

“Yes,” Spock says, after a long moment, looking at her uncertainly. “Yes, I would categorize my emotional state as so.”

“I am pleased,” T’Sin says, and she means it. Spock excuses himself and returns upstairs, taking the cat with him, and T’Sin retreats back to her room to meditate. She thinks, perhaps, that this will be a good trip, after all. 

  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> -one time i saw a post that called bones & jim spock's "life partners" and i was like "wow...ur so right..." and even though i perceive spirk as romantic i kind of think bones is equally important in that whole thing so bam. here's a fic  
> -i accidentally got SO invested in t'sin and her daughters...t'sin queen of being a chill stepmom. i'd love to hear your thoughts on her!!  
> -this fic was inspired by the fact that spock never tells anyone anything about his personal life  
> -i forgot to say but keenser also lives with scotty & uhura. he's just vibin. eating sprinkles when nyota makes cupcakes  
> -on the second 5 year mission u can take ur family with u so ben & demora get to come. why? bc i say so  
> -chekov calls his apartment his "bachelor pad" but he spends like 85% of his time either crashing with the sulus, the command house (that's what the crew calls the mcspirk house) or uhura's place (yes, scotty and keenser live there too, but let's be real). his apartment is just a couch and a russian flag anyway so there's not much going on in there
> 
> thanks for reading! comments & kudos always enjoyed! 
> 
> LLAP


End file.
